


A Retelling

by itachitachi



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, M/M, Religious Themes & References, Retelling, Team Gluttony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-14
Updated: 2011-08-14
Packaged: 2017-10-22 14:49:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/239223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itachitachi/pseuds/itachitachi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes we look at the apple and we want it. Other times, we look at the apple and we take it. There's something about that apple.</p><p>Written but not entered for Summer Pornathon 2009, the AU challenge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Retelling

Arthur looked around the garden. He looked at the green grass, at Gwen, and the soft walls. Then he looked up into the branches of the tree.

The apple was the reddest thing in the garden.

Arthur reached up.

"I wouldn't do that, if I were you," said a voice.

Arthur looked farther up, past the apple, and saw a boy with dark hair, neatly hidden by the leaves. "Why wouldn't you?" Arthur asked him. "We're allowed to eat all the other things in here."

"I just don't think you want to eat that," said the boy in the tree. He slid to a lower branch, graceful as a serpent, and peered down at Arthur worriedly.

"How do you know what I want?" Arthur asked, frowning. He wasn't used to being told what to do.

"Well," said the boy, biting his lip, "it's true, I don't really know. Maybe you do want to eat the apple. I just think it'll make you less happy. All I really want is for you to be happy."

"Happy," said Arthur. He looked at the boy, at the hypnotizing gold of his eyes, and then quickly over at Gwen, lying in the sun. "No," Arthur said. "I suppose you're right."

*

 _"There's something fascinating about that apple," said Arthur to Gwen that night._

 _"Really?" asked Gwen. She didn't look up from where she was picking flowers, silver and blue in the moonlight._

 _"Yes," said Arthur, and then sat in the grass and stared at the shadowed shape of the tree._

*

Arthur leaned back against the tree trunk and watched the sunlight make patterns across his legs.

"How do you know what would make me happy?" he asked, picking petulantly at the bark. "And why don't you ever come down from there?"

"I suppose because it's my job," said the boy, after a moment of thought. "This is what I'm meant to do."

"Keep me from eating the apple?" Arthur asked.

"No," the boy said. "Just to keep you happy."

Arthur frowned.

*

 _"There's something about that apple," Arthur said again to Gwen. It was night and he whispered._

 _Gwen was silent for a long time, watching the stars above them, before she said simply, "Or maybe, is there something about the tree?"_

 _Arthur looked up too, and thought the stars looked like little fruits, like he could pluck them out of the sky._

*

"What's your name?" Arthur asked. Today he was stretching up into the tree, grasping like he hadn't since trying to pick the apple that first day. (It was odd, because he didn't use to think about days that had come before.) "You've been given one, haven't you?"

"Yes," said the boy, looking reluctant. "It's... Merlin."

"Merlin," repeated Arthur. He kept reaching up, though he wasn't sure anymore if he was trying to grab the apple.

*

 _"There's something about that apple," said Arthur to Gwen one night. "Have you seen that boy? In the tree? With dark hair."_

 _"Boy?" asked Gwen, blinking at him in the twilight. "When I looked up, there was a girl. She was…"_

 _"Strange?" Arthur asked._

 _Gwen paused, before correcting, "Beautiful."_

*

"I mean, don't you ever wish you could come down?" Arthur asked, cheek against the bark. "What do you do up there?"

"I watch you," said Merlin. "Why?"

Arthur shrugged, turning his forehead into the tree. "I just…" He paused. "Merlin, are _you_ happy?"

"Happy?" Merlin asked, surprised. "I don't… what? Why wouldn't I be?"

"Right," said Arthur. He pulled his face from the tree's surface. "Of course."

When he looked up, Merlin was looking back down at him, a strange expression on his face, almost close enough to touch if only he stretched up his hand.

*

 _The next night, Arthur and Gwen approached the tree together. They looked up into the branches but saw no one, for it was dark, though each thought they could hear whispers._

 _The apple looked black in the shadows._

 _Arthur plucked it from the tree; Gwen took the first bite._

*

The world outside the walls of the garden was arid and brown, and breathing the air dried the water from Arthur's mouth. His feet were caked with dust and dirt, rather than cushioned by grass. It couldn't have been more different.

He found Merlin not far from the walls. He measured the distance between them as he walked: within eyesight, within earshot, closing, close enough to touch.

"Arthur," Merlin said, turning to him. His eyes were blue rather than gold, pleading.

Arthur reached out and touched him with his hands. He was like sparks under Arthur's palms; he pulled Arthur in until their bodies touched, breathed together. Merlin sighed against him, and then it wasn't enough—Arthur had to keep going. He touched with his mouth, with his tongue, and Merlin gasped and arched into it, sinuous. Arthur touched everything, anything he could reach, and would never stop, he thought; would never stop wanting to touch like this.

They kissed, mouths open, and despite the dust it tasted fresh and new—like apples.

*

 _"Do you regret it?" Merlin asked quietly. They were lying in the dust in the dark, streaked with grime and sweat, just touching—skin all the way down._

 _"No," Arthur murmured. "I'm happy."_


End file.
